The present invention relates to a construction element which can be used to construct three dimensional objects.
The building of various structures by children has been a common practice for many years. There exist many known construction sets which consist of various types and configurations of interlocking components. Since the advent of plastics, the relatively inexpensive production of these components has permitted a number of different designs to be fabricated. Even previous to such plastic construction elements, pieces of metal with mechanical connectors were used to build different types of structures.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new design for a construction element which may be used in constructing three dimensional objects.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive set of construction elements which may carry various graphic images for the amusement of the child.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a construction element for use in constructing three dimensional objects, the construction element comprising a generally planar main body, the main body having an upper marginal edge, a lower marginal edge, and first and second side marginal edges, an upper recess formed in the upper marginal edge intermediate the side marginal edges, a lower recess formed in the lower marginal edge intermediate the first and second side marginal edges, a first upper tab formed adjacent the intersection of the upper marginal edge and first side marginal edge, a second upper tab formed adjacent the intersection of the upper marginal edge and the second side marginal edge, a first lower tab formed adjacent the intersection of the lower marginal edge and the first side marginal edge, a second lower tab formed adjacent the intersection of the lower marginal edge and the second side marginal edge, and the first and second upper tabs being sized to fit within upper recesses formed in adjacent construction elements and the first and second lower tabs being sized and arranged to fit within lower recesses formed in adjacent structural construction elements.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a structure comprised of a plurality of construction elements, each construction element comprising generally planar main body, the main body having an upper marginal edge, a lower marginal edge, and first and second side marginal edges, an upper recess formed in the upper marginal edge intermediate the side marginal edges, a lower recess formed in the lower marginal edge intermediate the first and second side marginal edges, a first upper tab formed adjacent the intersection of the upper marginal edge and first side marginal edge, a second upper tab formed adjacent the intersection of the upper marginal edge and the second side marginal edge, a first lower tab formed adjacent the intersection of the lower marginal edge and the first side marginal edge, a second lower tab formed adjacent the intersection of the lower marginal edge and the second side marginal edge, and the construction element being arranged such that each of the first and second upper tabs fit within an upper recess of an adjacent construction element and each of the first and second lower tabs fit within a lower recess of an adjacent construction element.
In a greater detail, the construction element of the present invention may be formed of any suitable material such as cardboard, plastic, plasticized cardboard, etc. It suffices to say that the elements must have sufficient rigidity to support and form the structure.
The construction elements are preferably of a like size or dimension although it is within the scope of the invention to use elements of differing sizes. Typically, the construction elements may vary with a typical distance between the side walls being between 10 cm and 25 cm and the distance between the top wall and bottom wall being between 7 cm and 15 cm. It will naturally be understood that any size construction element may be employed with a preferred dimension being approximately 17.5 cm by 12.5 cm.
The arrangement of the notches and recesses may be varied depending upon the type of structure envisaged. The upper recess may come in various configurations with a preferred configuration being one of a triangle wherein the apex of the triangle is formed along the upper marginal edge. Similarly, a preferred configuration for the lower recess is a slot configuration, which slot extends vertically.
In one embodiment, there is only provided a single recess in each of the upper and lower marginal edges and preferably that recess is spaced to be half the distance between the side marginal edges. However, it is also possible to have a plurality of recesses such that different type of structures can be formed.
In many embodiments, the side marginal edges and upper and lower marginal edges will be substantially straight. However, it is also within the scope of this invention to have marginal edges of different outlines.